When a friend and I travelled last fall, we visited a high-traffic area in the barely-off-season. Not everything was open, and hours were limited, but the extra space was nice. We meandered. We experienced. We paused.

I recently found myself in a different kind of pause. In several areas of my life, I was either coming out of hectic season or anticipating one. I wouldn’t have paused had I not had some time away scheduled. I likely would have pushed through, checking as many tasks off my list as possible. I try to litter my life with intentional pauses, but sometimes I ignore too many of those pauses.

A pause doesn’t occur because nothing else is happening. A pause can exist among chaos. In fact, the timing of such a pause is essential. A pause doesn’t have to be a getaway. It doesn’t have to be a significant amount of time. But it has to be. We need to breathe. We need to reflect.

Don’t wait until you find an extra sliver of time to pause. Do it now, even if it’s sitting still for the next 60 seconds.

The world will still be here when you merge back into it.